The Handcuff Effect

3

I watched Nathan from the corner of my eye as we left the school grounds. He hadn't exactly pounced on the idea of staying at my place, but he had hands down refused to let me go to his. I was stunned. Did I even know Nathan at all? As it was, he looked like he had aged maybe fifty years in the past six hours and I felt a little guilty.

It had hit me like a ton of bricks too, but at least I didn't have slightly slumped shoulders and tired eyes.

Perhaps he was mostly irritated because he didn't really know me at all. He knew my name, knew what I looked like and how I acted, but that was about all he knew. It was about all I knew of him as well. Emma Louise Van de Burg, you are in like with a stranger, I scolded myself. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it.

Sighing, I looked up at him. 'Nathan?' I asked, but he didn't seem to hear me. I wondered what he was thinking. 'Nathan.' I said again, louder this time and emphasised with a tug to our connected wrists.

'Huh?' He looked around, then down at me.

I offered him a smile. 'I'm Em.'

Nathan frowned, looking at me like I'd completely lost the plot. I probably had. 'Yeah, I know.' He said slowly, like I was stupid.

I scoffed in frustration and looked away, walking a little faster, eyes burning. I would not cry because of him. Did he not even want to talk to me? Couldn't he see I was trying here? I couldn't have been that wrong about him, could I?

Marching up to my front door, I pulled a key from my pocket, sliding it into the lock and giving it a sharp twist. The door swung open, silently inviting us in.

'Hey,' Nathan said, stopping me at the doorway. I turned my head up, but I avoided looking at him. 'I'm sorry, okay?' He said on a sigh. 'I was just a little confused at what you were doing, that's all.'

I spared him a glance. He looked earnest, if a little reserved. So I nodded and continued inside, dropping my bag near the kitchen doorway and waltzing into the kitchen. 'Want anything?' I asked him after a moment of him standing awkwardly beside me. Stace, whenever she came over, simply took what she wanted, rumaging around the kitchen like it was her own. It felt weird to ask something so simple now.

Nathan shrugged, instead looking around the small kitchen area. It was definitely small, but it was homey, with one of my grandma's handmade tea-towels tucked into the cupboard handle underneath the sink, and photos of my mother and I stuck to the fridge with touristy styled magnets. My favourite was a black rugby ball with a white kiwi bird on it from New Zealand. Dad had sent it to us while he was on call over there.

I pulled open the old white fridge and poked around, finally withdrawing a jug of milk. Pulling Nathan along with me, I reached up for a cup from the cupboard. I can reach it easily from my tip toes, but Nathan's hand passed mine and snatched up a cup, handing it to me. Instead of letting the moment get awkward like it wanted, I flashed him a smile, one I might have sent Stace, and laughed. 'You're a quick learner. Thanks.'

He looked at me, a little surprised. Hadn't he heard me laugh before? I did it a lot, didn't I? Maybe the invisibility cloak was stuck to me like a second skin after all. 'You're welcome.' He said finally, before grabbing another cup.

I grinned. Maybe I had been right the first time. Maybe he wasn't so bad as everyone seemed to think, I thought as I sloshed milk into both the cups. I picked up my own and began to gulp down the liquid like it was ingestible liquid gold. Or perhaps like it was the drink I had been craving since last period. Both works.

Nathan stopped and stared at me, causing me to stop as well. 'What?' I asked self-consciously, wiping my face in case I had inadvertently dribbled or something else equally embarrassing.